au poteau

\o pɔ.to\

/\o pɔ.to\/ adv

The verdict

“au poteau” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Interjection employée pour condamner quelqu’un ou chercher à le faire condamner.

Corpus desk

Index FR-au-poteau · au poteau · French

au poteau · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for au poteau
PropertyValue
Headwordau poteau
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\o pɔ.to\
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « au poteau » en français

au poteaun'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

au poteau is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \o pɔ.to\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Interjection employée pour condamner quelqu’un ou chercher à le faire condamner.".

Zero misspellings are on record for au poteau in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is au poteau, spelled A-U- -P-O-T-E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Interjection employée pour condamner quelqu’un ou chercher à le faire condamner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how au poteau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Au poteau les profs !
  2. Les profiteurs au poteau, les prolos au pouvoir !

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "au poteau"?
"au poteau" is spelled A-U- -P-O-T-E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is \o pɔ.to\.
What does "au poteau" mean?
As an adverb, "au poteau" means: Interjection employée pour condamner quelqu’un ou chercher à le faire condamner.
How do you pronounce "au poteau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "au poteau" is \o pɔ.to\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "au poteau" come from?
"au poteau" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list